On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (4)
-
jtan % 3tS65.3 THE JLEADBR. &2®
-
: / *i& TT1*f "Pft 11TT jmJ U. K- 4- \r IX \ I *X* ¦
-
should do our utmost to encourage the Be...
-
A WEEK LN PARIS AOT) THE GRATOE EXPOSITI...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Books On Oult Table. Travels And Adventu...
Vhe Army of the Future , at once Military mnd Industrial . By G . D . Snow . Smith , Elder , and Co . Familiar Words , as Affecting the Character of Englishmen and the Fate of England . By David Urquhart . Triibner and Co . United States Magazine of Science , Art , Manufactures , Commerce , and Trade . ( No . 12 . ) Trtttoner and Go . irt-hints , Architecture , Sculpture , and Painting . By James Jackson Jarves . Sampson Low , Son , and Co . " ales and Sketches of New . England Life ; comprising " The May-flower , " and other Miscellaneous Writings . Hy Harriet JBeecher Stowe . Sampson Low , Son and Co . ' ulnam ' s Monthly : a Magazine of Literature , Science , and Art . ( No . 29 . ) and
Sampson Lowe , Son , Co . fispronunciation Corrected : a List of Words that are commonly Mispronounced or Imperfectly Articulated by Educated Persons . By Charles W . Smith . Brown . tints on Elocution ; comprising Observations on the Improvement and Management of the Voice , Modulation , Articulation , Pronunciation , Defective Speech , Stammering Emphasis , Pauses , Act ion , the Reading of Verse , the Expression of Feeling and Passion , $ c . By Charles W . Smith . Weltone . ' rownson ' s Quarterly Review . Third Series . ( No . 10 . ) C . Dolman . . Sallustii Crispi Opera Omnia , with-short English Note 3 , containing the Catiline . ( Part 1 . ) J- H . Parker . . Sallustii Crispi Opera Omnia , with short English Notes , containing the Jugurtha . ( Part 2 . ) J- H . Parker .
Jtan % 3ts65.3 The Jleadbr. &2®
jtan % 3 tS 65 . 3 THE JLEADBR . & 2 ®
: / *I& Tt1*F "Pft 11tt Jmj U. K- 4- \R Ix \ I *X* ¦
^ nrtfnitn .
Should Do Our Utmost To Encourage The Be...
should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself . —Goethe .
A Week Ln Paris Aot) The Gratoe Expositi...
A WEEK LN PARIS AOT ) THE GRATOE EXPOSITION . o they manage these things much better in France ? Experience seems > teach us that they do not . Nothing can be clearer than this fact , which now patent to all the world , that the Grande Exposition , and everything ytainrng thereto , from the imperial bird who hatched it , to the princely > oster w-ho has undertaken to bring it up—from the laying of the first stone i the tinselled mockery of the opening ceremony , has been a signal and > toriou 8 fiasco . The Parisians treat it with utter disdain ; not fifty people ly daily to see the mass of chaotic carpentry which it presents ; the Eng-\ h and the English alone keep the game alive , and are a providence to the aperial Commission , to those rapacious harpies the hotel-keepers , and to e faded Gamelias of Mabille .
Ought this to be so ? Considering the present condition of the business , irhaps yes : considering what it will be , decidedly not . More divided an the Great Exhibition of 1851 , the present Exposition presents from no > int of view a coup ( Tail at all equal to the scene from the Crystal Fount in ; but when the sum total is complete , the Champs-Elysees Bazaar will xeed the Hyde-park Fair , both as to ground measure and quantity of obcts displayed . In some special branches the comparison will be immensely favour of the former . In the present state of things it is impossible to predict what will be the ture appearance of the Palais de l'lndustrie itself . It is certainly much laller than the Crystal Palace ; the stone walls give it a heavier appearleasant
ice , both internally and externally ; the many fountains , and p conasts of white statuary , thrown up in relief against masses of green foliage , e wanting ; yet it has a harmony of its own , a chaste freshness of colourg very pleasin " to the eye , even in its present state of turbulent confusion , srhaps a few slight changes in the objects selected for the ornamentation the nave would improve the general effect . The great lighthouse should s turned out of the Palais bodily , either into the open air , or into the nnexe ; such objects as Secretan ' s lunar telescope , and the Greenwich bservatory models , should be sent up-stairs into the gallery , and Papi's autiful Florentine bronzes ( notably , a splendid head of David , copied from ichael Angelo , and Benvenuto Cellini's " Perseus" ) should come downlirs . There are also one or two French articles , well enough in their way ,
Lt which might as well , for the credit of the nation , be put into a less nspicuous place . For instance , a piece of sculpture for an altar , reprenting the Beatification of the Virgin , with his Imperial Majesty Napoleon I ., in the foreground . What a deplorable ignorance of celestial etiquette ! The English part , taken altogether , is , perhaps , in a more perfect state an any other national department . The potteries show most creditably , do the articles of ornamental furniture , so docs the orfevrerie , so also the xAiles . As far as I can see at present , England will bear off the palm inmtestably in Classes 19 and 22 ( Industries des Cotons , des Lins ct des hanvres ) ; and it will run some of them very hard in Class 20 ( des Laines ) . he Manchester gentlemen have preferred grouping themselves together in thuir and iTheir
i anonymous body to advertising separately names prices . Election is rich , and contains by fur the best cotton fabrics m the 1 alais ; it it is laid out with a marked contempt for effect , and , probably for this wry reason , has been put iiito a remote and darksome angle of the building . will require very shurp eyes to distinguish textures in that light . The Swiss embroideries and the Lyons silks are the most interesting features ) w in the Palais , and will probably remain so . The former—delicate prolctions , not of a machine , of the cunning lingers of patient and skilful omen—are represented much better than in 1861 . Tho embroidered uslins and batistes from Thai , Lauzanno , Appenzcll , and Saint-Gall exceed lythin" of tho kind which I have ever seen . JBrodories en plumotis , au rint d ' aroic , and in thnt beautiful and effective stitch called atojfatich ; ap'i-quc work and the most perfect imitations of Aloneon point ; u newly-minted imitation of point in relief ; curtains richly embroidered with lace
xttcrns , and floral designs thrown up in coloured wool by the aid ot tne otchefc-needlo , such ar « tho attractive objects which compose this charming Election . As for tho display of tho French manufactures , to give a mere . tologue of ita excellencies would exceed the reasonable limits of a letter . I
believe that it w . o . uld be nothing but the sober truth to say that never before have the silk manufactures been so thoroughly illustrated .. The coliectiojis in 1851 were as nothing in comparison to it . A few figures in proof of thisi In Class 21 ( Industrie des Soies ) the United Kingdom has thirty-three exhibitors ; Austria , for the honour of the "Vienna mills , has one hundred and 6 even ; but France has no fewer than Jive hundred and seven j of whom two hundred and seventy-two illustrate the preliminary processes , from the cocoon to the finest organsine , and the remainder unfold the richest fabrics that the French loom can produce . Nearly the whole of the Northern-Gallery is filled with brocades , satins , velvets , glaces , moires , gros de Naples ,, crapes , tulles , blondes , cloths of gold and silver , taffetas , and lustrines . Every hue of" the rainbow ,, every texture , from the haziest films of gauze to the material for a bishop's rochet , weighty with silver and gold , are there . To
separate them into classes and to weigh their merits against the competing ; collections in the other departments will be my task in a future paper . The Catalogue , in its present form , is a disgrace to its framers . For the classification they deserve no credit ; it has been taken directly from the plan of 1851 . As a * topographical guide it is worse than useless ; one number may be in the corner of the gallery and the very next half a mile off in the Annexe . In other respects it is a marvel of ignorance . Take the English portion and you find it full of blunders , which might easily have been avoided if an English clerk had revised the proofs . Mr . Titus Salt is said to be a manufacturer of Brad ford , in Wiltshire , and such proper names as Medwint , Richarson , Braitwhaite , and Cartwrigth ( passable enough in novels ) are scattered profusely through its pages . . ..
,,, „ , , I cannot help thinking that most of the blunders and difficulties in the : whole business are due to the over-division of the work among a number of petty officials . The intentions of the Imperial Commission may be presumed to be good , but unfortunately their subordinates render them null . In the very simple matter of giving facilities for journalists , Prince Napoleon is understood to have fully appreciated the obvious desirability of popularising the Exhibition by means of their existence . What has been the result ? Why , that no one has had what was promised , and that almost everybody is dissatisfied- The following scene will exemplify the sort of policy abroad anion <» the underlings who infest the undertaking . On Saturday last I was
at work in the Palais , going slowly through such collections as were perfect , and taking notes- I soou perceived I was becoming an objeefc of curiosity to the sergens de viUe : in fact , as Sam Weller said , they were " a twigging of me . " Presently , up comes a pompous little man with a " Monsieur , qu ' estce que vous faites la ?"— "Je prends des notes . " — " Monsieur , il est de " - fendu de se servir d'une plume ou d ' un crayon dans le palais . " — " Pourquoi ca ?"— " Parce que e ' est defendu . JTai mes ordres . " Whereupon I marched off to the office of the police chef , and was thence referred to the bureau of the Imperial Commission . Here , after some discussion , it appeared that a younff man from Antwerp ( I think ) had been caught taking a drawing of a at least
pattern , and that this judicious order was the result ; but it requirea two hours of animated discussion to convince ^ these official Dogberries that a note and a drawing are two very different things . Another anecdote to illustrate the liberality of their arrangements . Mr . Hope has sent a great many very valuable pictures to the Beaux-Arts , and he demanded his ticket as an exhibitor ; but they have refused him on the ingenious ground that , as he is not an artist , he cannot be an exhibitor of paintings . Of course Mr . Hope is furious . How weak , how short-sighted , bow very much the reverse of imperial is all this shabby policy . the Exhibition will enable
Next week I am in hopes that the state of me to commence a regular examination of the several departments of industry which it illustrates . Meantime , I shall take leave to conclude my letter with a few observations upon the great dramatic lion of Paris , the Demi-Monde ; that comedy which is making the fortune of the Gymnase , and the reputation of Dumas fits . I went to see it the other evening , and esteemed myself fortunate in being allowed to pay five francs for the privilege of sitting wherever I could find room for a little portable music stool , which they dignified with the title of tabouret d ' ordiestre . Every place , available or unavailable , was crammed : orchestra , parterre , boxes , galleries , full of an eager , appreciative , and demonstrative audience . French managers have a very sensible way of never giving their public more than that public requires , and , therefore , when the public wants room it doesn't get music ; consequently , at the Gvmnase , Apollo is now sacrificed to the presiding genius of the calsse ,
and not a fiddle is to be heard in the theatre . This is very _ primitive , and becomes still more so when the regisseur gives notice of the rising of the curtain by three orthodox raps with a inallet against the wing . This , you know , is quite classic , for they do it at the Franeais , where music is despised . Having seen the Demi-Monde , I must candidly confess that 1 never had the gootf fortune to see a piece better , if so well , acted in my life . Every noarb , even the smallest , is a psychological study , almost perfect . Perhaps Madame Rose Cheri is a little too obviously clever ; but Dupuis is the easiest , tho moat natural , the most polished artist imaginable . Selecting one out of many points which might he quoted to illustrate tho excellence ot the acting , I may refer to the scene between Olivier de Jaha nnd -Ve IWaujac , in the first act . These gentlemen have met as the seconds of two hostile persons , but , instead _ of the conciliatory tone proper toBUohan interview ^ of the greatest
irritation—De Nanjac is evidently labouring under feelings not against his principal ' s adversary , but against his interlocutor , that adversary's second . The real cause of this in jealousy : as De Nanjac ^™* * ° room , a certain lady was leaving it . Now here is the , di Iiculty of the situation , the true feeling docs not cmno to the surface until tho end of t o i erview , but its tingels visible throughout ; it must n ? vcr be domousiruUvo , never thrust itself prominently forward but st . ll colour ^ e whole it i . a , sentiment to be expressed , not in words , but by manner ft * " ^ " £ this M Bcrton who pluyed the part of De Nanjac , was perfectly suecobslul , thSc . was nc " outburS , tut witl ! politeness upon his l , pa , * " f ™*™ £ ill- i f > t mo linf leave this part ot tho question wicuouc . rtXte ^^ ldnuSion tot ^^ ^ Hharmnig talent oV Mademoiselle , LSrSSnct whose iiupersonation of Marcelle ( tho only phasing role ) waa tho most delicious piece of ingenuity possible .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), June 2, 1855, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02061855/page/19/
-